The Spanish police have captured in the waters of Cape Verde, almost 1,500 kilometers from the Canary Islands and 2,800 from Cádiz, a fishing boat loaded with 1,000 kilos of cocaine, which was transported without much regard on the aft deck of the ship. A tip-off from the DEA, the US anti-drug agency, of the imminence of a large cache on the high seas led to mounting a multinational capture operation, finally executed by the National Police, which launched the assault boats from the Fulmar, the Customs Surveillance dam ship that is patrolling the Atlantic. In the last two months alone, Spain has captured 20 tons of cocaine in onshore and offshore operations.
The fishing boat, named Mathieu, is an old shell that drug trafficking usually uses for shipments to Europe. The boat, 25 meters long and with a maximum speed of 13 knots, is registered in the port of Georgetown, in French Guiana. However, just a few days ago he was in the port of Paramaribo, the capital of neighboring Suriname, from where he is supposed to have set sail before being captured.
đźš©Intervened in waters close to #CaboVerde a ton of #cocaĂna in a fishing boat bound for Spain
🤝Operation of @policia, #Portugal Judiciary Police and the Tax Agency with the collaboration of the #DEA and the Spanish
🔹Navy 6 detainees#SomosTuPolicĂa pic.twitter.com/d6iwf3WuKL
— National Police (@policia) September 28, 2023
The operation began when the DEA warned that an operation was being prepared for the transfer of a large amount of cocaine from one ship to another on the high seas, according to a note provided this morning by the National Police. At that time the capture mechanism was put in place, which also involved the Judiciary Police of Portugal, the Spanish Navy. The situation led the agents to think that the most effective thing was "a rapid interception" of the vessel "to carry out the transfer of a large amount of cocaine from one ship to another on the high seas."
It was time to locate the ship, which sailed without a flag, as well as contact the authorities of Guyana, to confirm the registration data and to authorize the transfer to the nearest Spanish port, once it was confirmed that it had drugs inside. The objective was located in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 miles from Cape Verde, where the Fulmar headed to consummate the boarding. Quickly, the six crew members, two Albanians and the rest of Guyanese nationality, were arrested once it was seen that the 40 bales with the drugs were on the aft deck. Once the detainees were transferred on board the Fulmar, the towing of the fishing boat began and its transfer in the Spanish boat to the port of Arrecife (Lanzarote).